Agglomerated fuel package



J. P. HORNE- AGGLOMERATED FUEL PACKAGE Filed Oct. 3l, 1951 Y Attempts have been imaaeitoiutilizel sleek nia-1 terials for combustion int agglomerated formality"l briquetting thesame with binder materials suoli Patented Aug. 13, 1935` j KUNl'reD .OFFICE This inventionielates to the utilization of eoal slack, coal. lines, or like materials,- and aims t'c providetan improved method andlrneans for'the agglomerationand combustion thereof.-

as clay, oils, tarsand the like, but "great `zii'iiiciilty has been experienced in obtaining aproduct ca-` pable of withstanding the effects oihari'dlingorj exposure-to theweather andwhicht-Will undergo combustion `without disintegration Vacconl'ipanied smokiness ofthe fuel, and that the cost of `lziider materials and briqnette forming and `treating l equipment has rendered brquettirig' processes uli--` i economical.

= terial become sumciently coked or plastic A'to retainthe material inagglornerated form,- lafter which the `casingbecomesreduced to such` con-- dition as to readily pass throughv thegirate alor-'ig with the fuelash. Furthermore, particular eml bodiments of my invention provide for facilitating andrendering more cleanly `the handling of the, material; provide for vreduction of soot in the fines and chimney and, for open grate use, provide for pleasing flamecharacteristics. jIn; the accompanying drawingfshowing p referred embodiments'fof my inventionifo the' purs` pose .ofen illustrating the same',A l' Fig. 14 is a perspective view `of one form Aof agglomerate package according to my invention; I 2 is 'a somewhatvdiagrarnmatic ptltrtiallyV sectional view of thesame;` 1" A f5 3 is a partial rperspective vii'vvv of another en .ibodimentt` i l f y Eig. 4 is a partial diagrammatic vertical sec'-Y tionalyiew of thepsanleiand Y 5is adiagrannnatic partial vertical sec tional View of a further embodiment.4

Jinl practicing my invention I-first determine' l then Size ,and` character of coal slack to beage glomerated. For best results the material should be,4 of such character that constituents of `it will b e reduced to a plastic conditionby heat-. l When5 aggiornateratingsl bituminous coal: slack:` @o1-similar material no speciat provisions needbe'madebe- According to my `invention theacoal slack on other, material whichit isdesredito agglomerato eausesueltmaterialsfalfeady have this desired characteristic` Inrapplying my invention with other materials such asxanthracite. slack* it is desirable to in- 'termingleytllerjewith a. suicientportiontof bituv.Y

minous coalorthe like to impart this desired property.

@The material is then to be agglomeratedl'in package form,` taking' into' account 'the size of its particles and `the rapidity with which the agglomerate willcoke sufficiently to hold its shapei `Referring particularly to Figs.` lland`2 of the drawing Aand assuming that the aglomerate toK the material cons istsoigbituminouscoal slack passing through a hallinchmesh screen and containing all the smaller fines and dust, I provide a package which in theform shownconsists of a paper baghav-v inglan outerpaper wall I0 andinner paper wall I I "embracing a heatire'sistant mesh I2 therebetween, `The laments of the mesh are prefer-Y ably spaced apart a distance somewhat less than the Siae of` the largest particles in the agglomerated 'slackl in, this instance a dista-nce somewhat less than a halfnichti lIt is advantageous from the standpoint-of economy to use was `large a mshas possible Within the limit of size which will retainmaterial in agglomeratedform after the desruction Aof the'paper walls Ill and I I, but it is obvious that thesizeoilthe meshmay vary Widely within" this rangewithout departure from rnyfinvention,A he mixture I3 containingu halfli'ncli andall smaller particles is `packed tightly into thefpackage, and because or the varying sizes ofwpaizticles the VInixturevoils are almost entirely eliminated. The packageis then closed inlny suitable manner to hold the material in agglorieted forni,` and in `the forni shownin aitiiisis aecoiiiplisnedby gathering the top ort'lie Baafoiaifigit'over tightly and securing it witlistapiesra. j The spacing of the mesh; as"v above" flitond, is: soil,detfernlined asv to maintain the agglomeration ofthe filling I3Y afterbiiriiing away' of the' papa1-leveren and fr, emr the size or elements making iiiithe mesh l2 sneiiidbe so chosen that these niaiaentswilli resist trie-neat of combusti-on u'iitii siiiistanti'al corni-g or the nllifig' la; but be; come tapabiefjf passing the grate with the' etsii` after combustion ortlie'asglomerate material.

If "wire ijs iis-eater this nie-simi it should be large',

taaie composition was to earn out or melt at tem-` peratures rachdin thso as toredce t to' merous fire resisting materials may be used for this purpose.

In the form shown in Figs. 3 and 4 the exter- Y nal wall I6 of Figs. 1 and 2 is omitted and the package comprises only an internal wall adapted to prevent the materialZZfrom siftingV out of the package during handling and an external mesh 2l of characteristics similar to those of the mesh l2 of the preceding embodiment. As indicated at 23 in Fig. 3i if the wire mesh isinherentlyV rigid,as may be the case with iron wire.v for' example, the closure of the end or ends vof thepackage'maybe effected by merely folding over the` material and pressing fit-down' tightly into place. v

..With this form of the invention, as well as the form inFigs.f1 andV 2, the mesh to a degree protects the internal wall from puncturing dur-Y ing handling, and also tends to take strain oif this wall by supporting it against the material.`

`In the form shown in Fig.V 5 the internal wall ofFigs.v 1 and 2 isomitted andthe package comprises only the external wall' 3E),Y whichprevents sifting out of the smaller particles ofmaterial 32,Y and the mesh 3l, which is similar to that of the preceding embodiments, is positioned within the outer wall 30.r4 In the form shown in this embodiment the casing may be simply tubular in form and as indicated at 33 the wire 3l may be simply folded over on the lling 32 at the end of the package and the paper wrapper may be ad-I hesively secured over theend as at 34.

This form will effect-an economy of mesh 3| and is suitable for use vWherethe mesh isfairl'y self-sustaining and where the commodity will not be subject to excessively'roughhandling.

` The packaged agglomerates may be of any desired size suitable for combustion under the conditions ofusefor which they are intended. Convenient sizes for domestic use will be one'to five pound packages; for otherV uses ten-pound, or even larger, packages may prove desirable. As the paper wallsy I D, l I, 2,0 vand 3i! or thelike pre. vent the ner particles from siftingl out of the package A,during handling, even bituminous. materials prepared in agglomerate form according to my invention are rendered a cleanly commodity, suitable for domestic use. Y o

As above mentionedtheimproved fuelpackage is vparticularly* adaptable for modica'tionfto prevent the accumulation of soot ins'toves and chimneys or the like or to produce a pleasingly colored ame. For these purposes the paper walls of the container may be impregnatedw or coated with various salts or materials which will 'tend to pre-v. vent accumulations of soot'or to colorr the flame, or such materials may simply be inserted inthe package. These ends may also .be .attained by incorporating zinc or otherrsoot reducing or flame ooloringmetals in the mesh or by utilizing im;- pregnated lmesh of non-metallic fire resisting materials, such as asbestos or the like.

In the event that the commodity is to be so excessively exposed to the action of the elements that an ordinary paper wall might be injured by the exposure, the packaged agglomerates may be either constructed with water-proof walls corresponding to the walls ID, Il, 23 or 30 or have their paper walls coated or impregnated with water-proong material after the package is formed to provide additional protection.

Thus my invention providesrfor an improved fuel package which holds the slack in agglomerate form and actually provides a new method of handling bituminous slack or like arenaceous, friable or disintegrable material rendered cohesive by heat which may be summarized as separating such material into lots of individual bulks predetermined by the use to which the commodity is to be put; encasing such lots in substantially dust-proof packages comprising a substantially continuous layer of combustible material to prevent loss of material from the lots and `render the packages Yclean to handle, and further comprising a mesh of material at least temporarily fire resistant; and applying said packaged lots to the fire with draft voids therebetween that the combustible package material may be burned away to admit air to the package for combustion of the friable material, and that the friable material may be rendered cohesive as an initial stepof the combustionthereof to hold it in place and maintain the draft voids during combustion. YIt is apparent that the provision of" a mesh of material only temporarily re resistant, i

or a material which will be 'converted into glob ules lor, ash, or,which will in any other way be rendered` incapable of clogging the grate after complete combustion of the commodity, all con-- tribute to the success of the combustion of friable-v material rendered cohesive by heat according to my invention, as do also the provision of ilame coloring or soot minimizing constituents as elements of the individual agglomerated packages used according to my invention.

Y I find that much more complete and satisfactory combustion is attained in the burning of such fuels in accordance with my invention than is attained by brquetting the Vsaine and that in addition'the commodity is much more cleanly handled and much less subject to shrinkage due to disintegration in handling than are commercial forms of briquettes.

larly in the larger size packages, the cost of lpre-- paring package fuel for combustion accordingtoI my invention is less than the cost of preparing similar quantities of fuel by briquetting processes which are rendered expensive by the quantity of binder required and the extensive equipment necessary to successful briquetting. Moreover, the lling of the voids in the agglomerates made according to my invention, either. by the inclusion of line particles of slack therein or the pro'- duction of such iine particles by breaking down of larger particles on the application ofa'heat, provides for good coking of the agglomerates and eliminates blanketing of the draft and high carbon loss of the ash. The extremely complete combustion thus attained by maintenance of free draft reduces theash to a minimum, and because of the even burning attained it is unnecessary to forceportions of the re whereby clinke'ring is minimized, particularly if a slack is chosen, the" ash of which is non-fusing at the` temperatures to which it will be subjected during combustion.-

My invention is Vnot limited' -to the 'specifici' Furthermore; particu-v closed for purpose of illustrating my invention, j

and having disclosed preferred Yembodiments of the invention what I claim to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A fuel package encasing an agglomerate of v bituminous coal slack, which is a friable material rendered cohesive by heat, said` agglomerate consisting of a mixture of relatively non-cohesive particles of various sizes equal to or less than a predetermined maximum size, said particles being closely packed together and thus substantially Without voids, said agglomerate being surrounded by a substantially dust-proof combustible casing `Which avoids sifting out of the liner particles in handling, and said casing comprising means,

' such as a mesh of at least temporarily re resistantmaterial of a spacing less than vor approximately equal to the predetermined maximum size of particles, which retains the agglomerate after burning of the combustible dust-proof casing until the agglomerate is rendered cohesive. by the heat of combustion, and which then becomes reduced to a condition for ready removal with the residues of combustion'.

2. An agglomerated fuel package, comprising a casing packed with an agglomerate of bituminous `coal slack, which is a friable material initially relatively non-cohesive but rendered cohesive by heat, said casing being tightly packed with said material so as to reduce voids to a minimum, and said casing comprising a substantially dust-proof continuous combustible Wall and a mesh-like retainer of temporarily fire resistant material of such size relative to the particles of friable material as Ato h old the agglomerate together after burning away of the combustible wall until the agglomerate'is rendered cohesive by heat.

JOHN PAUL HORNE.

Ymi 

